1. Field of the Invention
The present disclosure relates to a foldable structure of an electric vehicle, more particularly to the foldable structure in which a link rod of a seat can be slid into a frame, and a wheel part can be laterally rotated into a stowing space in the circular-band-shaped frame by a rotator cap, and a step is rotated into a receiving groove, whereby the electric vehicle can have a reduced size and occupies smaller space, to facilitate receiving and carrying of the electric vehicle.
2. Description of the Related Art
With the progress of the times and social change, cities become more and have increasingly large ranges. Most of the people living in these cities usually drive vehicles, which results in a lot of air pollution problems and traffic problems, such as road congestion and traffic accident. Hence, the government also encourages people to frequently use public transport vehicles, so as to solve traffic jam; however, after leaving a station of public transport vehicle, person must move (such as walk) a distance to reach destination. Therefore, convenient portable personal vehicles are imperatively required by the people who use the public transport vehicles.
There are many commercially-available electric vehicles which most are electric bikes or electric motorcycles. The conventional electric bikes or electric motorcycles are designed by just replacing original power systems by electrical power systems, so they have disadvantages of large size, inconvenience in carrying and receiving. Therefore, a manufacturer develops a self-balancing electric scooter for standing user. Please refer to FIGS. 6 and 7. A motor A2 is mounted on a frame A1 disposed inside a casing A, and directly drives a drive wheel A21 coupled to the frame A1 and positioned at the lowermost point along the inner rim of a wheel B. A guide wheel A22 and the drive wheel A21 are in contact with the inner rim of the wheel B, and the drive wheel A21 has a wide roller with a groove in the center into which rib B1 fits. By way of its contact with the wheel B, the drive wheel A21 transmits torque from the motor A2 to the wheel B. Since this drive system operates by friction, the drive wheel A21 and the inner rim of the wheel B must be pressed together with enough force to prevent slippage.
A casing A encloses a part or most of the devices. The user stands with one foot on each platform C and faces toward the direction of travel of the wheel B. A gyroscope system is associated with the motor A2 and configured to sense forward and backward tilt of the frame A1 in relation to the ground and regulates the motor A2 accordingly to keep the frame A1 upright. This provides a means for controlling the acceleration and deceleration of the vehicle by leaning forward or backward, and also enables the vehicle to self-regulate its balance in the fore-and-aft plane.
While the vehicle is in use, the user must hold the casing A by legs, and only stands on the platform C by feet, so it is difficult for the user to maintain an upright posture and hold center of gravity, and further control direction of movement. As a result, it is difficult for the user to get started, and the user easily feels tired because of keeping applying force by feet in use.
A personal mobility vehicle provided with an electric gyroscope to accelerate or decelerate wheel, to achieve function of maintaining balance in the fore-aft plane. The personal mobility vehicle is also provided with a sensing device and the electric gyroscope which are configured to detect and transmit position information of the vehicle to a motor, such that the motor can drive the wheel to roll in enough speed and proper direction to enable the vehicle to self-regulate its balance in the fore-and-aft plane.
Furthermore, this prior art design discloses embodiments with two wheels and single wheel respectively. The personal mobility vehicle is provide with a platform for the user to stand, but the user's ankle cannot be in contact with the vehicle, so it is difficult for the user to accurately control balance and direction by feet. As a result, the user feels unsafe and uncomfortable while driving the vehicle to turn left or right, travel on ascent, downhill, or road bumps. Handlebars are for convenient control; however, the embodiment with handlebars has a large volume and is inconvenient for the user to stow or carry.
Other prior art which discloses a motorized transport vehicle includes two guide supports to form a structure in a cross-bar or handcuff shape to tightly hold the user's knee or lower leg, to limit a range of forward or backward tilt of the user's knee or lower leg, such that the user can ride the vehicle more stably and step footrests to drive and lean the single-wheel vehicle. However, the structure of holding the user's leg to limit the range of forward or backward tilt will also interfere the user to escape from the guide supports of the single-wheel vehicle when the user encounters danger in driving the vehicle; obviously, the single-wheel vehicle disclosed in this prior art is inconvenient and unsafe. In addition, the height of leg held of two guide supports is not high enough, so it is not easy for the user to control the direction of movement; furthermore, the user may feel tired after standing for a long time, that is, only young people or skilled users would like to drive the single-wheel vehicles. As a result, the single-wheel vehicle still has disadvantages of inconvenience and uncomfortability.
Therefore, what is need is to develop an electric vehicle which is easy to carry and stow, and has sufficient convenience, safety and comfortability.